A Pocket Full of Pie

by Leena Clover

  “Was he allergic to any drugs?”

  “No. But he was allergic to nuts.”

  Pam’s response was as casual as telling me she took two sugars in her tea.

  “That’s the next question,” I said, looking up, suddenly afraid of what was coming.

  Was subject allergic to any food items, such as milk or nuts?

  Pam’s eyes widened and she covered her mouth with one hand.

  “I never thought of that.”

  “What kind of Southerner doesn’t eat pecan pie?” Pa Harris said mournfully. “But my Jordan could never abide by it, ever since he was a child.”

  “What kind of pie did they find on him?” Pam asked urgently.

  “Er, I’m not sure, but I think it was a berry pie.”

  The image of Jordan sprawled on that bench was crystal clear in my mind. So were the pie crumbs with the reddish filling, and the wedge of pie that was falling out of his pocket.

  “Do you think it’s important?” Pam asked.

  “Let’s send in the questionnaire. We’ll let the police do their job.”

  I was trying to be nonchalant but I was sure we’d hit upon the cause of Jordan’s death.

  Chapter 22

  Pamela couldn’t usher us out fast enough. I still wanted to ask her about Cam.

  “Was Cam interested in Jessica?” I asked her point blank.

  She looked shocked. I didn’t think she had thought about this before.

  “How do you mean? Do you mean was he romantically involved with her?”

  “Unhunh,” I nodded my head vigorously.

  “What made you say that?”

  “Look, Pam, maybe it’s nothing. I may be mistaken.”

  She stuck to her stance.

  “What made you say that, Meera?”

  “Well, he mentioned staying over at her place once or twice. In fact, that’s where he was the day Jordan … I mean, the day Jordan and Jessica celebrated their engagement.”

  Pam’s face settled into a mask.

  “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

  “Please, Pam, if you know something, you should tell me now.”

  Pam hesitated.

  “Jessica was, is, the friendly type. She was free with her favors.”

  My eyebrows shot up my head.

  “Do you mean to say she slept around?”

  “What?” Pam’s face looked stricken. “Not those kind of favors! Anything, really. She never said no to anyone. Kids at the college had keys to her apartment, to her car. They raided her fridge anytime they felt like it. And I think they also raided her wallet.”

  “You mean she couldn’t say No to people.”

  Pam shrugged.

  “Another way of putting it. Look, she was Daddy’s girl. And Daddy’s rich. Those kids knew that and they took advantage.”

  “What about Cam?”

  “I suppose Cam did it to hassle Jordan,” Pamela finally admitted.

  “Isn’t that taking their rivalry too far?”

  “That’s the way they were. Cam insisted Jessica would have chosen him if she’d seen him first.”

  “She could still have chosen him, don’t you think?” I mused.

  “But she got engaged to Jordan!” Pamela shook her head. “Why would she do that if she fell for Cam?”

  “Maybe she was just buying time? Maybe she thought Cam would step up if he thought time was running out.”

  “I don’t know, Meera,” Pam was uncertain.

  “Jessica wanted to move to Texas. What do you think of that?”

  Pamela’s face blanched.

  “What? Was Jordan moving with her too? Pa would be crushed.”

  “I hear Jordan wasn’t ready to,” I eased her mind. “Do you think Cam’s unwanted attentions may have made her want to flee?”

  Jessica had told me they fought over leaving the Triple H, but she hadn’t explained why. Maybe the thought of having Cam around her all the time made her uncomfortable.

  Pamela clutched her head with her hands. I felt sorry for her. I was experiencing something similar, trying to make sense out of this.

  “Meera, I think I’m going to send in the questionnaire to your police friend. And let them investigate. I just can’t think any more.”

  I nodded. We said goodbye and Tony started driving back.

  “You think I gave her a hard time?” I asked Tony.

  “Let’s just drive back home, okay?” he said. “No stopping for snacks anywhere.”

  We reached home in an hour, and of course we were starving by that time.

  “I hope Granny’s got something to eat,” Tony said, rubbing his hands.

  Jeet let out a yawn. He had napped all the way back. A car pulled into our driveway and stopped a few yards from us.

  “Looks like Motee Ba’s just coming in too,” I observed.

  We piled out, watching Motee Ba and Aunt Anita get out of their car. Their eyes were shining and they seemed about to burst. Like they wanted to use the bathroom really bad.

  “Let’s go inside, Meera!”

  My aunt held my arm in an iron grip and almost dragged me behind her.

  “Sit,” she ordered, pointing to the couch.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Ba told me about this person that’s stalking you,” Aunt Anita began with relish. “I came up with an idea.”

  We all groaned. My aunt was never short on ideas. Most of the time, they involved gossip or snooping.

  “We decided to follow you,” Motee Ba gushed.

  “You followed us all the way to the Triple H?” Tony exclaimed. “That’s a two hour drive Granny!”

  Motee Ba cracked her knuckles. She only did that when she was agitated.

  “We followed you all the way there. Then we drove on and doubled back. We stopped by the side of the road until we saw you start back. Then we followed you home.”

  “And?” I asked, bored.

  I didn’t expect much from this fool endeavor.

  “You had a tail, Meera. No doubt about it.”

  My aunt sounded triumphant.

  “Maybe that person was just driving on the same road, going somewhere else?”

  Aunt Anita held up a finger.

  “In that case, why would they wait for you and follow you back?”

  “Wait a minute, Auntie. So there were two cars just idling at the side of the road. You must have noticed each other. And I should have noticed you.”

  Tony was probably mad because he hadn’t spotted them. We had been too busy talking.

  “Well, I drove off the shoulder a bit and …” Motee Ba stopped mid sentence.

  “Did you wait in a ditch?” I asked. “Unbelievable!”

  “It wasn’t a ditch,” she protested. “Well, not exactly. It was just a bit off the road. There were a few bushes that gave us perfect cover.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “And what about the other car then?” Tony demanded.

  “She went into a small country store,” Aunt Anita began.

  “We know the place.” I told her about our last visit to that store, and what the woman there had said.

  “We had the perfect spot!” Motee Ba said proudly. “We spotted you come out of that turnoff that takes you to the Triple H. Then when you passed the country store, we saw this car pulling out behind you. We followed.”

  “What about the car?”

  “That car was behind you until you turned into our lane. Then it drove past.”

  I felt numb.

  “Was it a woman, then? Are you sure?”

  Aunt Anita nodded.

  “Pretty sure. And I don’t see a man from these parts wearing pink.”

  “Can you recognize her?” Tony asked eagerly.

  Both Motee Ba and Aunt Anita hung their heads.

  “She had some kind of scarf wrapped around her head and face. As if she’s driving in a car without heat. I couldn’t even spot her hair color.”

  My aunt sounded be
aten. Motee Ba didn’t look too great either. I tried to cheer them up.

  “But you spotted her!! Don’t you see? All this time, we’ve only had suspicions. Even the cops haven’t actually seen her follow me.”

  “You need to call Stan right now, Meera,” Motee Ba said urgently.

  I didn’t waste any time. Stan was brought up to speed.

  “Your granny did this?” Stan was incredulous. “You Patels are turning into quite the sleuths.”

  “What now?” I pressed.

  “Nothing much,” Stan said. “I don’t suppose your granny got the plates on that car?”

  I asked Aunt Anita and she handed me a piece of paper. I rattled it off to Stan.

  “I’ll get on it. My guess is this is a rental, just like the last time. But maybe we’ll get some more info on it this time.”

  “Have you heard from Pam?”

  I told him about Jordan’s nut allergy and told him to expect something from Pam soon.

  “Maybe this is the clue we’ve been missing, Meera,” Stan perked up. “We can test for this now.”

  “We still need to find out who did it, Stan,” I reminded him. “Isn’t that more important?”

  “That’s the ultimate goal alright. But knowing the method of the crime might help us narrow it down.”

  I thanked Stan and hung up.

  “I’m starving!” Aunt Anita said.

  “Hey, that’s my line,” Jeet said, and we all burst out laughing.

  “Let’s order pizza,” I suggested.

  Pizza sounded great to everyone, and we put in an order for two large pies.

  “Any luck finding that photo, Auntie?” I almost wanted her to say no.

  “Haven’t checked my email since breakfast,” my aunt replied. “Let me have a bite to eat first, Meera!”

  I almost sighed with relief. Dad joined us reluctantly when the pizza arrived.

  “Your mother’s losing her mind,” Pappa roared at him. “You need to control these women better, boy.”

  Motee Ba tried to skim over their covert mission. Dad’s mouth dropped open.

  “This is exactly what you do every time you come here,” Dad looked at my aunt accusingly.

  Then he stared at his mother.

  “But Ba! You’re supposed to keep an eye on them, not join their ranks.”

  Motee Ba ignored him, choosing to keep her mouth shut. My Dad offered some more choice words for everyone and then dug into his pizza.

  “Can I check my email on your computer, Andy?” Aunt Anita asked Dad.

  He stood up and she followed him into his office. She was back a few minutes later, her face covered in smiles. She came and put a hand on my shoulder.

  “Just emailed it to you, Meera.”

  The tension in the room went up a notch.

  “Are you ready?” Motee Ba asked quietly.

  I was as ready as I would ever be.

  Tony and Jeet followed me to the guest house. I told the others to wait for my call.

  My hands shook as I opened my aunt’s email. The photo was the sort I needed, although it wasn’t very sharp. I downloaded it to my hard drive and fired up my program.

  I looked at Tony and Jeet and took a deep breath. None of us dared to say a word. Tony folded an arm around me, and Jeet did the same. I hit the Enter key on my keyboard and closed my eyes until Tony gently prodded me.

  “It’s done, Meera!”

  Ten images stared back at me from the screen. If my mother were alive, she would look something like this.

  I picked up the extension and called Motee Ba over. They came over, Pappa tapping his cane impatiently, leaning on Dad. I pointed to the screen unnecessarily. There was a shocked silence and tears rolled down the women’s eyes.

  Dad cleared his throat.

  “I think you can send these on now, Meera.”

  “Would you pick any particular ones out of these?”

  All of them pointed to the same two pictures.

  “Alright then, I’ll get on with this.”

  I wanted everyone to leave so I could launch into a full blown crying session. They all seemed to have the same idea. The group split up and only Tony stayed behind. He opened his arms wide as soon as we were alone.

  “You can let go now,” he said softly.

  The tears began to flow, and I began sobbing my heart out. I couldn’t fathom what had just happened or why it was painful. Maybe seeing how my mother would have looked now had made me feel her loss all over again.

  “All this time, and it still hurts to think of her,” I muttered through my sobs.

  Tony heated some water for tea and dunked in a chamomile tea bag. He made me drink the tea.

  “You need to be strong, Meera,” he soothed. “There’s nothing wrong with being emotional. But now you have to take the next step.”

  I put all the 10 photos into a zip folder and prepared a cover letter for them. I emailed this out to the list of people who had already replied to me. I would also include it in the new queries I sent out after this.

  “What a day!” Tony exclaimed. “We may have found what killed Jordan, we know you have a stalker for sure, and now this.”

  “A bit too much for you?” I asked.

  Sometimes I worry Tony will get tired of me and stop hanging out.

  “Not yet,” he teased.

  Chapter 23

  I spent most of the next day contacting authorities in different states. I sent out the photos to dozens of people. Most of them would be busy with the holidays, ready to take their annual time off. So there was a fat chance any of them would read my email before the New Year. But I wanted to get the photos out before I had any second thoughts.

  There was a hum of activity around the house. Motee Ba and my aunt were rustling up treats in the kitchen, talking about old times, catching up on gossip from the extended family. Even as a child, I had loved sitting at the kitchen table with them, shelling peas or helping them somehow, soaking up their stories of life in India. And then there was my aunt’s life in New Jersey. Sometimes, it seemed to me like she lived in a mini India in the heart of Jersey.

  My Dad had finished sending out grades and seemed to have a gap in his calendar. He offered to help me with the Mom Project.

  I wanted to gather Tony and Becky and go over everything we had learned so far about Jordan Harris. I was going around in circles. Nothing made much sense. Every person close to him seemed to be telling the truth. Either one of them was a seasoned liar, or there was someone who hadn’t come out of the wings yet. So far, I hadn’t been able to discern any motive. Far as I could tell from my vast collection of Agatha Christie books, there is always a motive for murder.

  I called Jessica on a whim and asked if she could meet me. She suggested the coffee shop on campus. Fifteen minutes later, I had parked in the deserted lot outside the Student Union. Jessica was already waiting for me with two coffees and cookies.

  “I got you a latte,” she pointed. “Is that okay?”

  “Sure!” I thanked her and picked up a cookie.

  Cookies speak a language I understand. They always cry ‘pick me up’.

  “So what’s up, Meera?” Jessica got to the point.

  She looked tired. She had dropped a few pounds since the first time I met her and the circles under her eyes had darkened. Her hair was dry like it gets when you run out of conditioner. I didn’t know if she was always so unkempt.

  “I went to the ranch yesterday,” I began.

  “Pam called me last night,” Jessica nodded. “And she told me about that questionnaire.”

  She leaned closer to me.

  “Do you remember the first time we met? I had told you how Jordan always got the berry pie at Sylvie’s because he couldn’t eat pecans.”

  I shook my head.

  “All this time, even Sylvie didn’t mention anything about a possible allergy.”

  “Jordan’s been eating at Sylvie’s for years. I guess they knew him by face. There’s no w
ay anyone there would hand him a pie that had nuts in it.”

  “What are you saying, Jessica?”

  “If they find nuts in Jordan’s body …” she paused and held back a sob. “If they find nuts, I think we can be sure it was done on purpose. There’s no way Jordan would eat nuts by accident. He was very careful about it.”

  I placed a hand on her shoulder.

  “Let’s wait until we know for sure.”

  “Is this what you wanted to talk about?” she asked.

  “You told me you wanted to move away from the Triple H,” I began. “But I don’t think you mentioned why.”

  “I’m an only child. And my Daddy has a big spread down South. We could do our own thing there.”

  “But I thought the resort at Triple H was Jordan’s baby. Didn’t he bring the ranch up to snuff by himself?”

  “Jordan put a lot of sweat into the Triple H. But he wasn’t really the boss. He had to get his Pa’s permission before taking any decision. And then talk to Pam and get her approval. It could get tedious.”

  “What about his brother?” I asked.

  “He didn’t chime in on day to day stuff when he was away,” Jessica said, “but he was beginning to take an interest, now that he’s planning to settle here.”

  “So that was an additional person to please,” I noted.

  “Yep!” Jessica pursed her lips.

  “And you’re saying Jordan didn’t like doing that,” I repeated.

  Jessica frowned.

  “Jordan was a ninny. A pushover. He hardly ever noticed how his family was taking advantage. He put his brains and brawn into the Triple H, and he didn’t have much to show for it.”

  I gave her a sympathetic smile. It seemed like Jessica was the one who didn’t want to have Jordan’s family around her. I didn’t think she’d gone to the trouble of getting a doctorate just to check in guests at a dude ranch.

  “Isn’t your research something to do with cows?” I asked.

  She smiled brightly. “We’re close to developing a supplement that will naturally hasten their growth. I’m working on a pilot with a small herd on Daddy’s ranch. We’ve had very good results. This will almost double our output.”

  “Why didn’t Jordan want to move?” I asked.

  Jessica twisted her mouth in a grimace.

  “He didn’t want to leave his family. As if we were moving across the world. My Daddy’s ranch is barely a 100 miles away from the H.”